


i think i'm into you

by smokaphobia



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Tumblr Prompt, eh karen makes an appearance or two, to abt 17/18
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-07 23:37:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13445811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokaphobia/pseuds/smokaphobia
Summary: Will's tired of just pining for Mike and decides that he has to do something about it, even if it means flirting using tips he got from one of those teen magazines lying around.





	i think i'm into you

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone! so this is a prompt erstwhilemagic gave me on tumblr! sorry if there are any grammatical or punctuation errors!!
> 
> also they're 17/18 in this!!
> 
> enjoy!

It’s been three years since Mike and Jane broke up and almost three of Will pining for him (not that he hasn’t done it before, it’s just now he can allow himself to do it without feeling guilt of wanting someone else’s boyfriend). However, Will realizes something one day while discreetly staring at Mike while they were hanging out in Mike’s basement, pretending to do homework:

He’s tired of just sitting and doing nothing.

He realizes that he’s gonna have to suck it up and do something if he wanted Mike, that he can’t just sit here forever and expect fate to do something. He tears his eyes away from Mike’s freckled face and stares at the floor, formulating a plan on what to do. Unfortunately, as he’s thinking, Mike notices his silence and furrows his brows in worry.

“Hey Will, you okay?” He asks, voice laced with concern. Will snaps his head up to look at Mike.

“Yeah, totally!” Will nods his head a little too quickly. Mike squints in suspicion at him until he mumbles an “okay” and turns back to his English work. Will lets out a silent sigh of relief.

 _Guess I’ll have to figure it out later_ , Will decides as he turns back to his Calculus homework.

The two boys work for the rest of the day, breaking the comfortable silence with small bits of conversation, until Will has to leave. Mike walks Will to door and they bid each other goodbye, Mike smiling sweetly at Will which leaves a pang in his stomach as he walks to his car. He’s really gonna have to think of something for this plan.

—————

Will opens the door to his room, dropping his backpack on the floor and falling onto his bed with a big sigh. He still hasn’t thought of a plan on his drive back and still couldn’t think of one. He rolls over onto his side and comes face-to-face with one of those teen magazines his mom got him because it had River Phoenix on the cover. Something else catches Will’s eye however, the bright pink font stating that “you can learn how to flirt with just these easy tips!” That’s when Will gets the idea to just flirt with Mike and see what that does. The only problem is that Will has no idea how to flirt. He sits up and picks the magazine up, turning to page 35 and hoping that these tips will do something. The magazine gives pointers like “compliment his outfit!” and “to even kiss him on the cheek, guys like it when you’re forward!”

Will closes the magazine and figures that these tips are actually alright. He decides that he’ll start this “plan” tomorrow by complimenting his outfit, which he knows is already gonna look good on him, it was Mike of course. He hears his mom close the front door with a shout of dinner already here in the form of McDonald’s. Will throws the magazine back onto the bed and goes out to greet his mother, hoping that the magazine is right and that his plan will work.

—————

Will walks into school the next day, bag slung over his shoulder, looking for Mike. Today’s the day he puts his plan into action. He spots Mike standing by his locker and waves at him. Mike sees him waving and grins, waving back to him and calling him over.

 _Well, this is it. Better not chicken out Byers_ , Will tells himself as he walks over to Mike. Today Mike’s wearing a blue and black flannel over a plain white t-shirt which is tucked into a pair of tan pants. Will’s hands get sweaty at the thought of how nice he looks and how he’ll have to vocalize it. Luckily, they’re alone for now, so when Will stands right in front of him, he’s able to do what he wants without fear of his friends making fun.

“Hey Will!” Mike greet cheerfully.

Will swallows nervously, “Uh, hi Mike. You, uh, look really nice, um, today.”

Mike’s eyebrows raise in surprise and blushes bright red, “Uh, th-thanks Will, um, you, uh, look nice today, um, too.” He stammers as Will giggles at his reaction. Will thanks him while also blushing.

 _I think this might actually be working,_ Will thinks as they walk over to where Dustin has now arrived, greeting him and walking to class to start the day.

—————

Phase two of the plan, Will decides, is what Steve calls “that smile Nancy does”, the really coy smile she gives Steve all the time. He’s picked out a day and place for it: Saturday at the Wheeler house when they’re watching movies.

Will rolls his eyes, _God I’m such a nerd, picking out when I should flirt with my crush._

Saturday rolls around and Will is the first person to arrive at the Wheeler house. He stands on the front porch and waits for someone to open the door.

Mike is of course the one to open it, greeting Will with an enthusiastic “hey!”

“Hi Mike.” Will returns with that smile he’s been practicing at all afternoon. He hopes he’s doing this right. But he apparently is when Mike blushes and shyly smiles in response. He opens the door wider for Will to walk through and they sit on the living room couch and talk until Lucas arrives next.

The rest of the night goes smoothly; every time Will makes that smile at Mike, Mike blushes and turns away. There was even one occasion where Mike jokingly copied the smile, breaking Will and making him giggle from across the couch. Lucas rolled his eyes and Dustin shushed them, saying that this was an important part.

Now movie night was over, and everyone has left except for Will, who’s now waiting on the couch in the basement for Joyce. Mike told him to go down and sit there while he got some more snacks from the kitchen. Mike walks down the stairs with a bowl of chips and a sleeve of Oreos, making Will perk up excitedly.

“Is that special for me?” Will jokes as Mike chuckles and hands him the sleeve.

“Yeah, uh, just for you! Can’t let mom know though.” Mike says as he carefully sets the bowl down on the arm of the couch. He grabs some chips from the bowl and runs his free hand through his hair, trying to move his hair from his face with no success. He huffs as he tries again, and his hair once again falls back in his face.

Will giggles, “Here, let me help.” He sets the Oreos down and reaches his hand out towards Mike’s forehead, gently brushing his hair to the side. His fingertips graze Mike’s forehead and Will’s breath hitches as Mike stares into his eyes. His hand lingers nears Mike’s ear and Mike slightly leans into the touch, eyes fluttering shut. They stay like that for a few moments until they’re forced apart by Karen coming down the stairs to tell Will that Joyce is here. Karen walks back up the stairs and Will waves goodbye to Mike, who’s blushing as hard as Will thinks is humanly possible. His own face is hot and he thinks he might almost match Mike’s color. He walks up the basement, giving Mike one more bashful wave before meeting Jonathan at the front door.

————-

After what happened on Saturday, Will isn’t so sure he should be as rigid in his plan as he has been. Every time he thinks of the moment him and Mike shared, he gets giddy and his heart flutters. He thinks maybe he should just be in the moment and see what happens, because that clearly helped him in the Wheeler’s basement.

So, he walks into school on Monday with a weird sort of confidence, searching for Mike in the sea of students. But he can’t find him and it leaves a pang of worry in his stomach.

 _Maybe he’s just coming late?_ He rationalizes as he walks to his first period. But Mike isn’t in third or fourth period, the two classes they share, and he isn’t at lunch either. When he asks the rest of the party where he is, they all respond with a shake of the hand and a variation of “I don’t know”. Will really worries now, worries that he might have been too forward in his plan and scared Mike off. He spends the rest of the day feeling like this and decides to visit the Wheeler house after school to see if Mike is there and talk to him, even if he might get any negative reaction from Mike.

School gets out and he speed walks to his car, throwing his bag in and quickly driving to the Wheeler house. He approaches the door and knocks, hoping someone is home. Karen opens the door and warmly greets him. When Will asks her about Mike, Karen’s face twists into a face of pity, saying that somehow Mike got sick with a stomach virus over the weekend and hasn’t stopped throwing up over the weekend. However, Will almost pleads to let him in and with a sigh, Karen opens the door and leads him to the stairs.

Will walks up to Mike’s room and gently knocks, opening the door when he hears a quiet “come in” from within. Mike is laying on his bed in the fetal position, clutching his stomach and groaning softly. When he sees Will enter his room, he grins and sits up against the headboard, telling him to sit. Will sits down at the end towards Mike’s feet and puts his hand gently on Mike’s shin.

“You know, your mom won’t be happy to see me sitting so close to you.” Will half-jokes.

Mike smiles and shrugs, “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

Will nods, “How do you feel?”

Mike groans, “Disgusting! Like absolute garbage!”

Will rolls his eyes at Mike’s dramatics. Mike asks him what they did at school today and Will tells him about the usual. They talk about other things too, like that new movie that’s coming out in a couple of weeks that they both want to see and Mike tells Will about how some kid got kicked out of the arcade for breaking one of the games.

About an hour and a half later, Karen comes up the stairs, scolding Mike on how he should be sleeping and not getting Will sick. Mike whines about how unfair this is, while Will gets up off the bed to follow Karen, who’s waiting at the front door. He turns to Mike to say goodbye and gets a feeling, a feeling that he should _do something._ So he leans down to Mike and gives him a peck on the cheek and quietly whispers goodbye. Mike’s all flustered and stammering, once again blushing an almost dark red as he puts his hand to his forehead and nervously laughs.

Will’s walking to his car when he’s realized what he’s done, wondering if what he did was right.

————-

It’s Thursday of that same week when Mike comes back to school. He corners Will in the lunchroom, asking if they go to the library to talk. Will swallows and nods, instantly worrying about the topic of their conversation as he follows Mike to the school library. They settle down into a table in the far corner where they know they won’t be bothered by anyone, sitting across from each other.

 _This is it. He picked this place so he could insult me in peace._ Will worries.

But he’s thoroughly surprised when Mike let’s out a sigh, “What’s going on?”

“What?” Will asks dazed.

Mike sighs again, “All of this,” he gestures between them, “That’s been going on for a couple weeks now! I’m pretty sure you’ve been flirting with me. Why?”

Will supposes he can’t hide it now. He takes a deep breath and weakly smiles, “Um, because, um, I…like you. Like, uh, that.”

Mike stares at him for a couple of moments and then nods. Will worries again, sure that this is where Mike tells him he doesn’t want to be his friend anymore. He’s surprised once again when Mike stretches his arms open on the table towards Will with his palms open. Will stretches his arms too, grabbing Mike’s hands with his own. They sit like that for a minute, holding each others hands. Mike speaks up, “I like you too. Like, uh, that.”

“That’s good.” Will jokes. Mike let’s out a soft laugh and agrees with a hushed “yeah”.

They discuss their feelings for each other, laughing at how long Will has been pining for and how long Mike has been oblivious towards it. They talk about other stuff, like how their friends will react to them and where they should go for their first date.

By the time the bell rings to end the lunch period, they have a date for Saturday night with dinner at their favorite diner and that movie they wanted to see playing at the Hawk.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are appreciated and come talk to me on my tumblr @wlwgods


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